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New senior living complex planned in Waterford Township
Waterford Township planning commissioners have approved a three-story 60-unit senior-living building on Scott Lake, over the objections of nearby residents.
Lourdes Senior Community has a nearly 40-acres campus along Watkins Lake Road next to Scott Lake, currently offering nearly 150 units devoted to independent and assisted living options, rehabilitation, short-term and long-term care and hospice care.
Scott Lake is a private, spring-fed 77-acre lake with depths up to 35 feet. It is considered an all-sports lake.
The township allows up to 10 units per acre; the new-building site is just over three acres on the campus and would allow up to 62 units, according to township officials.
The one- and two-bedroom apartments will have full kitchens and in-unit laundry utilities. The units range in size from just over 700 square feet to just under 1,200 square feet. Amenities in the building will include a bistro, theater, game room, chapel, salon, fitness center and multipurpose rooms. Apartments would cost $5,000 to $6,800 a month, depending on size. Lourdes existing independent-living units cost between $2,875 and $4,200.
Two docks are planned on the lake, with an agreement for a total of two pontoon boats that would be operated by staff, according to plans submitted to the township.
Lourdes’ President and CEO, Rich Acho, told The Oakland Press the company started in 1965 and remains one of the few Catholic nonprofit retirement communities in Oakland County. He said aging baby boomers will need more options in the near future.
Within a five-mile radius of Lourdes’ campus, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ 2050 economic forecasts show a 22% increase in households with people 75 years or older at a time when their children or other potential caregivers are moving out of the area.
“In our market area, ages 65+ will see a 32% increase by 2028,” Acho said. “With the workforce shortage, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire private caregivers.”
But plans to add the 60-unit independent-living building to the campus riled many Scott Lake residents. They appealed to township planning commissioners to stop the project.
Lourdes revised the site plan to address township officials’ and residents’ concerns, including relocating the building to meet setback rules, redesigning the parking lot to meet township standards and hiring a company to do a traffic study. Lourdes widened a fire lane and added a sidewalk along Watkins Lake Road, while dropping plans for a pickleball court in favor of a courtyard designed for quiet activities.
Lourdes officials told the township that because residents are considered independent, there would only be a single staff member in the building to assist in the event an emergency required a 911 call.
David Cyplik lives two-tenths of a mile from Lourdes, closer to Watkins Lake. His wife was a patient there near the end of her life, he said, adding that he donates to Lourdes and supports the senior community in other ways. But he doesn’t support a 60-unit building and worries about traffic on Watkins Lake Road, especially during rush hours.
“If you live nearby, as I do, I see the traffic backing up every day,” he said. “It backs up for a long period of time.”
Jennifer Almassy said despite changes in Lourdes’ site plan, she remains concerned.
“It’s still a stark-white three-story building adding 60 units when there’s not even barely 100 houses on the lake. I think that’s excessive,” she said.
Another neighbor, Frank Scerbo, said he liked having the Lourdes across the lake.
“It’s nice and quiet. We’d just like to keep it that way,” he said.
“I ask you respectfully: Do not allow 60 units to be built there to stick out like a white elephant.”
Scerbo said one or two residents per unit would increase Watkins Lake Road traffic, either because they will be driving or having visitors.
Several asked for a traffic light for safety reasons.
Supporters included Lourdes residents and employees, who also spoke at the Sept. 23 meeting.
A retired priest, the Rev. Joe Lang, said he’s lived on Lourdes’ campus for three years and found it peaceful.
“It’s an environment in which people take good care of themselves,” he told the board, noting that many no longer drive.
Some Lourdes residents were accompanied by the company’s caregivers. One said she heard more noise from the 80 households that share Scott Lake than from her Lourdes neighbors.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ 2050 forecast of regional trends to predict how changes will affect the economy and the movement of residents and companies. The report is used to help decide how the infrastructure changes and what services are needed. SEMCOG’s report shows that aging is a major issue, with more older adults than children by 2026 in southeast Michigan, a trend that will be national by 2034 and global by 2050.
Higher-density housing is one SEMCOG recommendation for making sure older residents have access to transportation, food, housing, public spaces and social engagement.
